It’s not often that I’m surprised by a night away, but when Luch and I decided to travel down to Umhlanga; he managed to do just that by booking us a one night stay in the Drakensberg.
I’d never heard of the place we were staying, but he assured me that it had gotten great reviews on Booking.com – his favourite place to book accommodation since he started travelling so much for work. In fact, I didn’t even really know anything about the area of Cathkin Peak except that it was just down the way from one of my absolute favourite resorts – Champagne Castle.
We managed to find Cayley Mountain Lodge no problem, but then came the difficult bit of actually finding our room for the night. The lady at reception gave us a not very detailed map, but told us to turn left and then right as the roads went. We were supposed to be staying in 22B, but we could only find 22. Not only that, but 22’s door didn’t have the right lock for an electronic key card, so it couldn’t be right.
After going around in circles three times and ending up at the same spot yet again, I suggested we take the road to the right first instead. This ended up being our salvation and within 2 minutes we were pulling into the parking outside no 22B.
Having brought a lot of food with us including an oxtail from the night before, that we just couldn’t waste; we were so enthusiastic to see a huge fridge in our room where we could store everything. The room was freshly decorated and I was happy to see that there was an aircon, TV with DSTV and a little outdoor area where we could sit and watch the view.
Our room was part of a larger house that had another two rooms (separate from us of course) with a jacuzzi on their patio. I have to say, I was a tiny bit jealous when our neighbours put on their jacuzzi; but luckily the weather was hot so we could lounge in the cold pool just down the way instead.
What I’ve never understood about hotels and resorts in general is when there are so many rooms or houses available, but they will put the only people in the resort right next to each other. We have had this happen to us more than once and this time again was no exception.
We still enjoyed a relaxing afternoon next to the pool and huge jacuzzi. Then we jumped on the air trampoline (pictures to follow), lazed about on hammocks, took a hike down to the dam and also played mini golf. As it turns out, in all the years we’ve been together, we never played mini golf together, so it was good fun.
The hike down to the dam was incredibly steep and originally we’d thought to take the car, but since we’d borrowed my mom’s car for the trip, thought better of the idea. We were grateful to have walked when we got about halfway down and caught the most magical sunset I’ve ever seen. The light was shining through the clouds in sections as if God himself was reaching down to touch the earth and I couldn’t help but put my black and white filter on and take some photos.
We had dinner in the Restaurant on the property and although Luch was disappointed in his choice of fish and chips, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and the entire meal was incredibly well priced (for a change). After dinner, we walked back to our room for the evening via one of the other houses which was just incredible. It had a swimming pool, a pit for bonfires, multiple braai’s, and looked like it could sleep at least 6 people. All I kept thinking was, the next time I come here, I’m booking this place. The perfect getaway for a family or group of friends. Stunning views from the top and on the cloudless night, the perfect place to stargaze.
I decided I wanted to watch the stars from our patio, so we pulled a blanket and some pillows outside. After I’d made us each a cup of tea and we’d finally settled down for the night, we watched the clouds roll in and block out all the stars. It was so peaceful and cool with the wind blowing the storm in, that we stayed out a bit longer and would have fallen asleep if I hadn’t have gotten too cold.
When we woke up the next morning, it was to the complete opposite weather of the day before. It was so misty that the mountains had disappeared entirely and there was this lovely gentle drizzle covering the flowers on our deck. We had coffee on the deck just under the roof and enjoyed the quiet once more. Since neither one of us felt like hiking in the rain, we decided to go wine tasting instead.
Who knew that the Drakensberg had its own wine farm? I didn’t until the day before when we’d seen their sign on the way to our accommodation. What a lovely experience! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it could definitely have competed with the wine farms in the Cape when it came to beauty.
We were the only ones there for a while and managed to taste all seven of their wines and added in a bit of food to keep us going. Luch needed to taste their bobotie and I just had to have some cheese and biscuits to compliment my wine. It was so amazing to see the vineyards with the Drakensberg mountains in the distance.
Next time I’m in the Drakensberg, I’m planning on visiting Cayley Mountain Lodge again, but this time I’m getting the one with the jacuzzi or the pool. It all depends on the weather 🙂
